It was a big story in 1996 when Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers nudged their spires some 30 feet higher than the roof of Sears Tower and knocked Sears off its perch as the world's tallest building.

Twenty years later, Sears (since renamed Willis Tower) isn't even in the global top 10.

The recent completion of the world's second tallest building, the twisting 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower, pushed Willis into — ouch!, 11th place, the list-keepers at the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recently announced.

The only American skyscraper still in the top 10, New York's 1,776-foot One World Trade Center, stands at No. 4. The rest of the giants are in the Middle East and East Asia.

Willis Tower's come-down might be a big deal to Chicagoans who yearn for bragging rights, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. Nor should you.

Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin on how the Willis Tower loses its title as the tallest building to the One World Trade Center. (Posted: Nov. 12, 2013)

Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin on how the Willis Tower loses its title as the tallest building to the One World Trade Center. (Posted: Nov. 12, 2013)

Today's tallest tower is tomorrow's Guiness World Records footnote. Great skyscrapers are thrilling to behold, but great cities are defined less by record-breaking spires than by lively streets and rich layers of culture. Where would you rather spend your next vacation, in Paris or Dubai?

Besides, even if the world's tallest buildings aren't being built in Chicago anymore, they're still being shaped here.

That includes the tallest of them all, Dubai's 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa, which was designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

And the skyscraper expected to top the Burj — Saudi Arabia's under-construction Jeddah Tower, which will rise at least one kilometer (or 3,281 feet) — comes from the Chicago shop of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Gang's North Side boathouse wins award: There's a Chicago project among the 18 national honor award winners the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute of Architects is announcing Friday: the WMS Boathouse at Clark Park, by Chicago's Studio Gang Architects and its namesake Jeanne Gang.

Located on the north branch of the Chicago River at 3400 N. Rockwell St. and principally sponsored by the Chicago Park District, the boathouse and its serrated roof profile express the rhythmic motion of rowing through the static medium of architecture.

The project consists of a sprawling, one-story boat storage shed that doubles as a canoe-kayak rental outlet, and a compact two-story field house with such advanced training facilities as an indoor rowing tank. Both buildings are clad in durable slate shingles and zinc panels, giving them a taut, continuous surface that enhances their sculptural presence.

Chicago is now building a less-expensive version of the North Side boathouse in Bridgeport along the Chicago River's south branch. Along with the expanding downtown Riverwalk, the projects are key elements in Mayor Rahm Emanuel's drive to improve recreatonal opportunities along the river.

Wanda Vista still a go, developer says: The shockwaves shaking the once-surging Chinese economy aren't throwing a roadblock in the path of the planned Wanda Vista Tower, the hotel-condominium skyscraper that would be Chicago's third tallest building, the project's developer told me last week.

The three-tiered, 1,186-foot riverfront skyscraper is backed by the Wanda Group, a leading Chinese real estate developer, and Chicago's Magellan Development Group. It would be built in the 300 block of East Wacker Drive alongside a multilevel viaduct. Studio Gang Architects are the designers.

"We have had no indication that it's anything but a go," said Jim Loewenberg, co-chief executive officer of Magellan Development. The company plans to apply for a building permit in June and hopes to start construction in late summer or early fall.

Readers weigh in on Loop Link: My column on Loop Link ("Are riders being thrown for a Loop?" Jan. 10) drew strong responses from readers who aren't satisfied with Chicago's stab at bus rapid transit. Loop Link includes red-colored bus-only lanes and large bus shelters on Madison and Washington streets.

A version of this article appeared in print on January 17, 2016, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Cities not defined only by spires - Middle East and Asia crowding U.S. out of big picture - Cityscapes" —
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